Roller assembly for sliding panels

ABSTRACT

A roller assembly for sliding door panels consisting of a bracket having a resilient restraining member at one end and pivot pins at the other end with an elongated arm having a roller secured at one end pivotally mounted to the pivot pins and engaging the restraining member at its other end. A coil spring extends between the bracket and the elongated arm and is prevented from outwardly pivoting said elongated arm until a bolt which is mounted in a threaded bore on the bracket is threaded outwardly to force said other end of said elongated arm to free itself of said restraining member and a stop limiting the outward swinging movement of the elongated arm.

Elmted States atent Schoenbrod [54] ROLLER ASSEMBLY FOR SLIDING PANELS [72] Inventor: Michael P. Schoenbrod, Miami, Fla.

[73] Assignee: Aircheck, Inc., Dade County, Fla.

[22] Filed: Dec. 21, 1970 [21] App1.No.: 100,326

[52] U.S. Cl ..16/91, 49/420 [51] Int. Cl. ..E05d 13/02 [58] Field of Search ..l6/9l, 97,105,106,100; 49/420, 425

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,090,084 5/1963 Banner ..49/420 3,283,444 1 H1966 Andres ..49/42O 3,526,995 9/1970 Saunders ..16/9l X Primary Examiner-Donald A. Grifi'm AttorneySalvatore G. Militana [5 7 ABSTRACT A roller assembly for sliding door panels consisting of a bracket having a resilient restraining member at one end and pivot pins at the other end with an elongated arm having a roller secured at one end pivotally mounted to the pivot pins and engaging the restraining member at its other end. A coil spring extends between the bracket and the elongated arm and is prevented from outwardly pivoting said elongated arm until a bolt which is mounted in a threaded bore 0n the bracket is threaded outwardly to force said other end of said elongated arm to free itself of said restraining member and a stop limiting the outward swinging movement of the elongated arm.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures INVENTOR MICHAEL P. SCHOENBROD ATTORNEY ROLLER ASSEMBLY FOR SLIDING PANELS This invention relates generally to rollers and is more particularly directed to roller assemblies for sliding panels.

In the present construction of the roller assemblies for sliding panels the spring functions both as a tensioning member as well as a support bracket for the roller. This results in the necessity to replace the entire roller assembly when the spring either is of insufficient tensile strength, loses its tension or becomes fractured. Also, difficulty has been encountered in the mounting of a sliding door onto the door frame when using the present roller assemblies. An extra person or certain special tool is found to be necessary to constrain the spring member of the roller assemblies mounted on the lower edge of the panel in order to swing the panel into alignment with the lower rail after having engaged the upper roller assemblies with the upper rail. The rollers of the lower assemblies must of necessity impinge on the lower rails as the panel is brought into alignment to seat the lower rollers and must then be lifted either manually or a special tool used to slide the rollers against the spring pressure so that when the rollers are in alignment with the lower rails, they can be released to seat themselves on the rail.

The present invention contemplates avoiding the above indicated objections by a bracket for supporting the roller and a spring as separate members and a releasable latch for preventing the swinging movement of the roller support.

Therefore a principal object of the present invention is to provide a roller assembly with a bracket consisting of hinged members for securing the assembly to a panel and for supporting a roller with a coil spring interposed therebetween for yieldingly swinging the roller outwardly.

Another object of the present object is to provide a roller assembly with a pivoted roller support arm engaged by a releasable latch or catch for restraining the swinging movement of the arm.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a roller assembly or sliding panels with a bolt for securing the roller assembly to the panel and for releasing a roller supporting arm to permit the latter to swing outwardly under the influence of a coil spring.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a roller assembly with a bracket adapted to be secured to a panel and having a hinged portion for pivotal movement of a roller supporting arm with a coil spring extending between the bracket and the roller supporting arm whereby upon the failure of the coil spring, the latter is readily replaced by another coil spring.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a sliding panel partially broken away showing my roller assemblies mounted thereon.

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the sliding panel in sliding position on a sliding door frame.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of my roller assembly.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals are used to designate similar parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 refers to my roller assembly for panels 11 slidably mounted on rails 12 and 13 of a door frame (not shown). The roller assemblies 10 of which there are four mounted in each panel 11 consists of an L-shaped main bracket -B- having a main body portion 14 and a leg portion 15. The main bracket -B- is U- shaped in cross section, as shown by FIG. 5, for the purpose providing rigidity thereto and also for readily securing the bracket -B- to a hinge bracket -H- and a roller supporting member -A- as is explained in detail hereinafter.

The main bracket -B- is provided with a resilient catch or restraining member consisting of a shoulder 16 secured thereto by a resilient arm 37, a threaded bore 17 in proximity thereto and a boss or protuberence 18 at approximately the mid-portion of the main body portion 14. The threaded bore 17 receives a bolt 20 while the boss 18 forms a seat for a coil spring 20 which extends between the body member 14 of the bracket -B- and the roller support member -A-.

The roller support member -A- consists of an elongated body portion 21 at one end 19 of which is mounted a U-shaped roller support 22 rotatably mounting a roller 23 by means of a pivot pin 24. At the other end of the elongated body portion 21 are axially disposed bores 25 formed in and facing outwardly of the sides of the body portion 21. The bores 21 receive juxta-positioned cylindrical pivot members 26 mounted on the inner walls of the hinge bracket -l-I-.

The hinge bracket -H- consists of an L-shaped member having leg portions 27 and 28, the leg portion 27 being received by the U-shaped leg member 15 of the main bracket -B- and secured therein by crimping or upsetting the side edges of the leg member 15 as at 30. The leg portion 27 is provided with a longitudinal rib 31 for strengthening the member 27. Foot portions 29 which extend in coplanar relation along the lower edges of the leg portions 28 serve as a stop for preventing the pivotal movement of the roller support arm 21 beyond a horizontal or parallel position with that of the body member 14 of the main bracket -B-. A boss 32 is mounted on the upper surface of the roller support arm 21 in alignment with the boss 18 of the body member 14 functioning as a seat for the lower end of the soil spring 20.

The conventional sliding panels in which my roller assemblies are intended to be used consists of four structurally formed alike frame members 33, that are mitered and joined at their ends to form a rectangle. The members 33 are U-shaped in cross section having a web portion 34 and leg portions 35 for receiving my roller assemblies 10 as best shown by FIGS. 1 and 2. A

roller assembly is positioned within the upper and lower horizontal frame members 33 in proximity of the vertical frame members 33. A threaded bore 36 is formed in the web portion 34 for receiving the bolt securing the roller assembly 10 in position against the lower surface of the web portion 34.

In the normal use of my roller assembly 10, the roller support arm 21 is pivoted to its retracted position against the coil spring pressure 20, as shown by FIG. 3 and held there by the latch 16 that engages the free end 19 of the roller support arm 21. The bolt 20 is unthreaded and removed from the bracket member 14 permitting the boltless roller assembly 10 to be placed in position within the frame members 33 with the bores 36 and 17 aligned and the bracket member 14 in contact relation with the inner surface of the web portion 34. The bolt 20 is then threaded into the bores 36 and 17 and stopped when the bolt 20 engages the roller support arm 21 of the two lower roller assemblies 10; as to the two upper roller assemblies 10, the bolt 20 is continued to be threaded causing the end 19 of the roller support arm 19 to become disengaged from the latch 16. The coil spring 20 now yieldingly forces the roller arm 21 to swing away from the bracket member 14 about its pivot pins 26 until it engages the limit members 29 and assumes a position parallel with the bracket member 14 as shown by the dotted line position by FIG. 4.

Now, the sliding door panel 11 is ready to be placed between the rails 12 and 13. The upper rollers 10 are first made to engage the rail 13 and then the entire panel 1 I is forced upwardly against the coil spring pressure 20 of the upper roller assemblies 10 until the lower edge of the panel 11 clears the lower rail 12. When the rollers 23 of the lower roller assemblies 10 are aligned with the rail 12, the panel I l is lowered until the rollers 23 engage the lower rail 12. Due to the rollers 23 of the upper roller assemblies 10 being under the influence of their respective coil springs 20, those rollers 23 will remain engaged to the upper rail 13. Now, the bolts 20 of the lower roller assemblies 10 are threaded to force the roller support arms 21 to be released by their respective latches 16 and assume the position shown by FIG. 2. The sliding panel door 1 1 is now supported by a pair of lower roller assemblies 10 whose rollers 23 are supported directly by the bolt 20 that are threaded through bores 36 in the lower horizontal frame member 33 while the upper rollers 23 are resiliently maintained against the upper rail 13 by the spring pressures 20.

To remove the sliding panel 11 from the rails 12, 13 all one needs to do is lift the panel 11 upwardly against the spring pressure 20 until the lower edge of the panel 11 clears the rail 12 and then swing the panel outwardly of the door frame and rails 12, 13.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A roller assembly for sliding panels comprising a pair of substantially L-shaped members having a leg portion of each of said members secured to each other and the other leg portions extending in substantially parallel relation to each other, a restraining member mounted at the free end of one of said L-shaped members, and pivot means mounted at the free end of the other of said L-shaped members, the leg portion having said rtpivot means mounted thereon being substantially sho er than the other parallel leg portion, a roller supporting member pivotally secured to said pivot means at one end, a roller mounted at the free end of said roller supporting member, said last named free end engaging said restraining member for preventing the swinging movement of said roller supporting member, spring means extending between the other leg portion of said one of said L-shaped members and said roller supporting member yieldingly forcing said roller supporting member to pivot in a direction away from said restraining member and a bolt threaded in said other leg portion of said one of said L-shaped members adapted to release said free end of said roller supporting member from said restraining member and means limiting the outward swinging movement of said roller supporting member.

2. The structure as recited by claim 1 wherein said restraining member comprises a shoulder and a resilient member securing said shoulder to the free end of the longer of said other leg portions. 

1. A roller assembly for sliding panels comprising a pair of substantially L-shaped members having a leg portion of each of said members secured to each other and the other leg portions extending in substantially parallel relation to each other, a restraining member mounted at the free end of one of said Lshaped members, and pivot means mounted at the free end of the other of said L-shaped members, the leg portion having said pivot means mounted thereon being substantially shorter than the other parallel leg portion, a roller supporting member pivotally secured to said pivot means at one end, a roller mounted at the free end of said roller supporting member, said last named free end engaging said restraining member for preventing the swinging movement of said roller supporting member, spring means extending between the other leg portion of said one of said L-shaped members and said roller supporting member yieldingly forcing said roller supporting member to pivot in a direction away from said restraining member and a bolt threaded in said other leg portion of said one of said L-shaped members adapted to release said free end of said roller supporting member from said restraining member and means limiting the outward swinging movement of said roller supporting member.
 2. The structure as recited by claim 1 wherein said restraining member comprises a shoulder and a resilient member securing said shoulder to the free end of the longer of said Other leg portions. 